I have been here waiting
A granny in my endless cradle watch
Waiting for the ladder to descend
From the mother tortoise in the fables
So that I can climb to the heavens
Reminiscence of the yester years
In the matching band of kindergartenic queues
Like a train of solder ants
In the harmattan match for the rainy days ahead
“Parents listen to your children
We are the leaders of tomorrow”
We chanted like the sun birds
Flying our wings in unarguable frenzy
Waiting for the tomorrow which never came
With our hearts cupped with hats of ignorance
Like new bush mushroom abandoned
For rotten tree eaters
Here I am still watching
A cradle with beards left fallow
While the leaders of yester years say no
And got their anus glued on gods seat
Like dogs to the gods we crept
Just for the rumbling stomachs groan
And from our eye came streams of oceans
Yet we could neither move nor be heard
Though we have caught the pen
Which they say is mightier than the sword
And now we need the sword to quench our pains
Yes the sword more than ever the pen
Here we are still watching
With the tomorrow not at sight
While the yesterday refused to pass away
With today yet to come our way
The old dying king refused to step away
His rules induced by senile dementia sway
Like a babies cooing haunt us all day
As he squeezes us into disguised feudalism
When will our tomorrow ever come?
For this we have always yearned
Though our today is not yet established
In the darkest time of the day I think.
....today is the tomorrow we hoped for yesterday, procrastination an enemy of progress!
ReplyDeleteI so love 'Long wait'.
ReplyDeleteIndependence came with it hopes that were (are, if you like) shattered by heartless, ruthless rulers. Let's hope tomorrow comes soon.
ReplyDelete- Nzube Ifechukwu
is it gonna come? just a question
ReplyDeleteI like the existential twist in 'Long Wait' -- there seems to be no clear exit for the persona. It is not clear that the world of the pen can bring about order, unless, perhaps, in the psyche of the persona - the world of the artist. The narrative tenor is apt, crowned by a sense of physicality: 'I have been here/Waiting'. But try as much as possible to avoid cliches and overbeaten idioms in your writing. They undermine the weight of thought, apart from betraying originality no matter how you try to depersonalize them[eg ...leaders of tommorow...pen mightier than sword]. These, I think, do not augur well with the precedent and antecedent strings of thought. Perhaps, you can recreate them! to tighen the flow. Google 'Building the Nation' by Henry Barlow, a satire with a generous gift of humour. You have a 'national' sense - and it is productive. But it pays more to 'create first' before you 'preach'..."
ReplyDeletethank u Ejor, if everybody that visits this blog comments like u i think i will be so much better. however the clichés u pointed out i think are the core points of the poem which is meant to criticize them. the first as u can see is an allusion to an old nursery rhyme. as for escape for the persona as u mention, he says something about the sword being needed to quench his pains as can be seen now in most Arabic nations
ReplyDeletethe sit tight leaders of yesterday in libya, egypt and cote d'Ivoire have had their days and the sword option did it.
ReplyDeleteHmm... let me just add that from what I know of Ejiofor's criticism, he's more formalist than socialist, that means he(likely)would not appreciate the aspect of a poetry that seems designed with specific nations or individuals in mind.
ReplyDeleteHere's where there should be some caution.It is actually possible to pin down the hands of both schools in your writing if you listen more to the formalist.